The B6173 is a semi-rural road in north Durham. It was numbered A6077 for many years but appears to have gained its present number in the 1970s.

The road starts at traffic lights on the A692 on the southern edge of Pickering Nook and heads southeast. Initially the road is lined with hedges but we soon enter Clough Dene and pass housing. We then come into sight of open fields and climb into Tantobie, where there are only buildings on the right-hand side. The B6311 comes in from the right here.

After another rural section we descend into Tanfield Lea, where we run through a wood before the road becomes wholly built-up. We follow Good Street past the school and then climb again. A left-hand bend takes us under the old railway line to Consett, now a cycle path, after which we bear right again. Continuing to climb, there's another sharp left-hand bend before the road ends at the top of the hill at a roundabout on the A6076.